Harry Potter and the end of all things
by Sarius Artavius
Summary: This is my version of the seventh Harry Potter Book. Who will live, who will die? Will Voldemort finally be defeated to allow the world to finally live in peace? All will be revealed in the dramatic conclusion to the Harry Potter series!
1. Chapter 1 The Unknown War

-1**Chapter 1 - The Unknown War**

The village of Templeton sat quietly in the Somerset countryside. It knew nothing of unfriendliness or violence, instead, as its name suggests it was a temple of happiness for its quaint residents. Everyone knew everyone else and spent most of their day in the local pub, The Flying Horse. Even when the liquor flowed freely, tempers were never frayed. Most of the inhabitants of Templeton were wealthy and drove sparkling cars which were washed unfailingly every Saturday.

On this particular evening, the streetlamps gave an eerie glow upon the rain sodden pavements. The constant patter of rain on his window was a signal to a certain fourteen year old boy that he should go to bed. But he couldn't. This algebra homework needed to be in tomorrow, or his head was on the line.

It wasn't that Kevin was lazy; he just had a habit of leaving everything until the last minute. For Christmas last year, his little sister Kristina had wanted a special cuddly toy that did a number of amazing things, to Kevin it just looked like a toy rabbit, but that wasn't the point. His mother had told him to go to the shops in town the next day, otherwise, she said, they would all be gone and Kristina wouldn't get it for Christmas. However, when Kevin's friend Tom came round to play on his Playstation, all thoughts of Kristina's bunny rabbit had left his mind. It was only on Christmas Eve that Kevin eventually remembered. The bus was packed and he had to stand next to a particularly smelly man, who insisted on using Kevin as a prop when the bus turned a sharp corner. When eventually Kevin had reached the shops, carrying a few bruises on his arm where the man had gripped it so tightly, he rushed into all the toy shops in sight. No matter how much he begged, pleaded, pushed and even cried the shop assistants had told him there was no way he'd get hold of the toy before Christmas. In the end he had to settle for a basic cuddly rabbit, Kevin, of course, didn't see any difference and he hoped neither would his sister. Kristina, however, did see the difference. Kevin spent most of Christmas day in his bedroom after his mother had yelled herself hoarse and in doing so forgotten the Christmas Dinner, causing it to be slightly overdone. Kristina had cried all morning, giving sidelong glances at the rabbit, hoping that it would become the real thing. When it didn't, she cried even more. After that incident, Kevin hoped he had gotten out of the habit of leaving things until the last minute, but it seemed, as always that he was wrong.

As Kevin considered an outstandingly difficult equation, he turned his attention to the television. He liked to have the television on as he worked. Sometimes Kevin felt quite lonely living with two girls. He couldn't talk to them about wrestling or how he felt about a certain girl in his class. His Mum was, well, his mum and you don't talk to her about that sort of thing. And Kristina was only four, much too young to talk about violent sports and snogging. His father had died when Kevin was seven, before Kristina was born. Even though Kevin didn't spend much time with his father, he was always at work, abroad somewhere; it would have been nice to still have him around. A male presence around would, for some reason, make Kevin feel more secure.

The newscaster's voice washed over him. He had a strong Northern accent, which was quite cold, but his smile lit up his face as he read out the headlines.

"…_In the village of Oxbridge. The family were all found dead in their beds, no suspicious marks were found on their bodies to denote the cause of death. A full Post Mortem will be carried out. Meanwhile, the police are appealing for any witnesses to this heinous crime which occurred in the early hours of Friday Morning. In other news a skateboarding cat has been entertaining the members of the West Down Rotary Club. Felix de Bowe is the latest skating sensation and is said to be 'enjoying every minute of it.'"_

As the newscaster's warm smile returned, Kevin sighed and returned to his homework. A skateboarding cat? Anything could make the news these days.

As Kevin wrote down the answer as 2AC, something outside the window caught his eye. It was just a white blur, it moved from one of the lampposts outside to the next one. He peered out of the window, hoping the thing, whatever it was, would show itself again.

It did, and this time Kevin saw what it was. It was an owl. He'd never seen an owl before, only in text books in his biology classes. This one looked huge, much bigger than he thought they would be. He thought they were the size of a crow, but this one was at least twice the size. He'd heard about something called falconry, where people taught birds of prey, such as owls, to land on them, like pets. Kevin thought about how amazing it would be to have a pet owl the size of the one he just saw. His mum would never pester him about tidying his room again; he could just set his owl on her. He also remembered about reading something about owls when they were studying flight in his science lesson. Owls could fly silently so their prey wouldn't hear them coming. His stomach growled and he thought about how good it would be to be able to walk silently downstairs. He could then grab a sandwich without waking his mother who would kill him if she realised he was up this late. And that's when he heard the scream.

It was his mother. It was a high pitched, terrified scream. He had never heard his mother so frightened in his life. Kevin swivelled round in his chair, facing his door. The pale wood obscured his view of the scene outside. He turned off his television and his light and returned to his chair, shaking. Without the noise of the television, he strained to hear any noises beyond the door. There was none. Not even the creaking of the floorboards on the stairs or landing where the scream had originated from. Kevin thought of calling out, but his voice caught in his throat. He was petrified of what he would find outside, or whether there was someone else in the house that would hear his shout. He tried to steady himself with a few deep breaths when he heard it. A creak, on the bottom step of the staircase.

"Mum?" He croaked.

Another creak, the person had moved back down into the hall.

"Mum are you ok?"

Silence.

Maybe she'd fallen down the stairs. After his father's death, Kevin's mother had taken up drinking in her bedroom. Maybe she'd got drunk and forgotten to turn the light on when she went down to check on Kristina?

Kevin gathered his wits, took a few more deep breaths and got up out of his chair. He crept silently over to his door, opening it a crack. The landing was dark, but he could see a light on downstairs glowing up the staircase. He opened the door further and, holding his breath, walked down the stairs.

Kevin couldn't believe the sight that met him. His sister's bed had been turned over and her limp body was sprawled across the floor. Her eyes were open and staring but her lips were blue. She was dead. His mother, too, was sprawled on the floor eyes wide in terror but no breath passing in or out. The only two remaining members of his family were now dead; he was alone in the world. Kevin didn't even notice the two hooded figures in the room. They were wearing long black robes and skull-like masks over their faces. They were pointing what looked like wooden rods at his chest, their teeth bared. Kevin's eyes began to well up as one of the hooded men spoke.

"Bow down, Muggle!"

"Wh-what have you done to my mum and sister?" Kevin choked out.

"I said, bow down to me Muggle! Don't force me to kill you!"

"Why are you giving me a chance, you didn't hesitate to kill the rest of my family!"

"Not all of your family are dead…..just a couple."

"What do you mean; they were the only family I had left!"

"What about your father?"

"What about him, he died four years ago!"

"What is your last name Kevin?"

"….how do you know my name…"

"That's not all I know Kevin Snape. Your father is a lying traitor and you shall all die for his treachery to the Dark Lord."

"My father is dead. He never betrayed anyone. He protected his family, and now he's not here to defend us you cowards have come to murder us."

The other hooded figure stepped forward, looking at Kevin.

"Enough of this, why don't you just kill him Macnair?"

"Alright Lucius, alright. I just felt like fanning the flames a little. Giving this young lad a bit of truth before he dies."

"But the Muggle police will be here any second!"

"So, we can take them on easily. Just one word and…"

"No, the Dark Lord said we must be quick and _quiet_. So hurry up and get it over with."

As the hooded man named Macnair raised his rod, Kevin stood straight backed. He looked into the eyes of his murderer, tears' running down his face as the last Snape in Templeton was felled by a green light, just another victim in a War he never knew existed.


	2. Chapter 2 Wedded Bliss and Goodbyes

**Wedded Bliss and Goodbyes**

Harry couldn't look. He knew he would never be able to have the same happiness as Bill and Fleur had now. As they sat on the main table, flanked by Mr and Mrs Weasley, Harry couldn't help thinking about himself and Ginny. He would have given anything to have had more time with her. It had been the happiest time of, well, his life. He would be sat where Bill was now, drinking champagne, laughing with his best man, Ron. But it would never be. Voldemort had made sure of that. From the age of one, Harry's life had been predestined. He was forced to follow one path, knowing that if he strayed only a little, the whole world would suffer. So, today, on what should have been the happiest day of Bill and Fleur's life, made Harry feel utterly miserable. Ron and Hermione were sat at his table, holding hands. Harry smiled, at least his friends had found happiness. He looked around at the whole reception hall and his eyes fell upon Tonks and Lupin. Tonks' hair was a vivid pink and she wore a huge smile. Lupin's hair seemed to be less streaked with grey and the lines on his face a lot less obvious. Harry had overheard their conversation last night in the corridor at Grimmauld place.

"It's not right, Nymphadora. We need to be there for Harry. We can't think about ourselves until this has all panned out."

"But Remus…..I love you."

Lupin had been silent for a while before he replied.

"I know, but keep it out of mind. If Voldemort ever found out, I wouldn't want him to hurt you. We've got to stay apart for a while."

"Alright, I guess you're right, Remus. I must say I don't like it though."

At that point Harry had stopped listening. He knew Lupin and Tonks had feelings for each other since Bill had been bitten by a werewolf. The only reason they couldn't get together was because they were members of the Order of the Phoenix and that knowledge could be used against them. So, they sat next to each other, catching each other's glimpses and giving each other smiles in return.

Harry's gaze moved down the long table at the front to the young red haired girl at the end, Ginny. She was looking down at her plate, moving her food around distractedly with a fork. She looked up momentarily and noticed Harry staring at her. She suddenly lowered her head and continued with her food prodding, her face slowly turning red. Harry tore his gaze away from her. No, he told himself, you can't do that to her. You told her at the end of term it was for her own good. As Lupin said to Tonks, maybe after everything has happened, maybe. That was if Ginny hadn't found anyone else. Harry found himself staring at her again. Maybe he didn't want Ginny to be happy? In that way they would be the same. She was the only one he had ever really loved, and to see her with someone else would break his heart. For the second time that evening, he had to take his eyes off her.

The wedding had been beautiful. Fleur had worn a cornflower blue wedding dress. With her Veela heritage, she had looked stunning walking down the aisle, her blond hair pinned up and intertwined with flowers. Bill also looked handsome. His face, although still scarred from his run-in with Greyback, had shone with a happiness Harry had never seen before. He wore a black suit with a blue tie, matching Fleur's dress. Mr and Mrs Weasley had also got the Weird Sisters to play, as Mr Weasley had good connections with them after preventing them purchasing a new guitar that had been charmed by a Death Eater to electrify the user when it had been first played.

After the Wedding, a reception hall had been booked for the after-wedding party. Mrs Weasley had catered and, as usual, the food was delicious. Harry was already through his second helping of his favourite dessert, treacle tart. Ron was helping himself to another chicken leg, Hermione gave him a stern look, and Ron lowered the chicken back to the plate.

"Oh, come on Hermione. The only reason you're not eating is because Mum got some house elves to help out with the cooking," said Ron.

"No, it's not Ron. I'm just not very hungry at the moment," Hermione replied.

"It's not Mum's fault! You try cooking for over a hundred people, it's not easy you know, Hermione!" Ron retorted, his face turning a little red.

"Well, she could have at least paid them!" Hermione burst out.

"You know as well as I do that Dobby and Winky didn't want paying, neither did any of the other house elves for that matter."

"I knew you never took S.P.E.W seriously, it was probably your idea in the first place to use them!" With that, Hermione turned her back to Ron to look up at the Bride and Groom's table. Harry could see that Ron's face had turned a darker colour of scarlet and that he was muttering things under his breath.

Harry smiled. Hermione and Ron always bickered with each other, he knew by the time it came to dance the two of them would be together on the dance floor eventually. When Ron asked Hermione out just two weeks after Dumbledore's funeral, Harry thought things would change between all three of them. But, the only difference seemed to be that Hermione and Ron walked around holding hands and seemed to argue a lot less. As he noticed Ron catching snatched glances at Hermione, trying to see if she would talk to him again, he couldn't think of a couple who was more suited to each other. Well, he thought, no-one except for Bill and Fleur.

After Bill had been bitten by the werewolf Greyback, everyone thought that Fleur wouldn't want to go through with the wedding. But, when she was eventually allowed to see her fiancé, she had shown that she loved Bill, no matter how disfigured he would become. As Harry looked up at the main table, he noticed Bill stand up. It was time for the speeches.

"Harry, will you dance with me?"

Harry jumped at the voice. He looked up at the speaker and was shocked to find Ginny looking down at him.

"Oh, yeah, I guess," he said, standing up to face her.

"Thank you, Harry." Ginny, smiling now, took Harry's hand in hers. Harry returned her smile and walked with her onto the dance floor. The Weird Sisters had struck up a slow tune for couples, and Harry noticed this was true for most of the dancers. Mr and Mrs Weasley, Bill and Fleur, Hermione and Ron. Harry and Ginny moved to the centre of the dance floor, hand in hand and turned to face each other. Harry hadn't danced since the Yule Ball, and it showed. He couldn't keep his rhythm, and was out of step with Ginny most of the time. Ginny noticed this and smiled, she pulled him closer to her and they suddenly became one. They floated around the dance floor, in complete harmony, the music the only thing they could sense around them. Harry closed his eyes and drank in Ginny's smell. Her vividly red hair brushing his face softly, his head resting gently on her shoulder. When the song ended, Harry brought his head up and their eyes met. He brought his face close to hers and kissed her. When they broke apart, Harry let go of her hands and his face grew serious.

"Ginny, I'm sorry."

Ginny looked at him with a puzzled look on her face."What for?"

Harry couldn't bring himself to tell her. He let his eyes drift from her face, tears slowly welling up in his eyes.

"I just wanted to give you something to remember me. Our last kiss. I may never see you again."

Harry raised his head, again looking into Ginny's eyes. He could see tears falling down her face as she took both his hands and brought them to her lips. She kissed them once and let them fall to Harry's side.

"I love you," she whispered as she turned away and walked over to the seating area.

Harry just stood there, feeling the tears rolling over his cheeks, not bothering to wipe them away. He watched the only one he'd ever loved walk out of his life.


End file.
